This is a study to search for the ethical basis for valid informed consent of organ donors. It is an admirable action that a person give his own body part or organ as a gift to another person. The organ for transplantation can be removed only when the donor consents voluntarily to donation. It is recently proposed as the need for organ trans-plantation is increased that organs can be harvested although the consent of deceased cannot be obtained. This may- raise many moral issues because human beings all have an unalienable right to control their own bodies.
The principle of autonomy is usually regarded as an ethical basis for informed consent. However. some people criticize that the principle of autonomy requires a person and his decision to be autonomous (but there are many patients who arent autonomous due to their confusion ur unconscious condition in a clinical situation), or this principle can foster indifference to patients needing help thus respect for principles of caee and beneficence is necessary. ~~´hen we consider the complexity of making a decision about organ donation. the principle of autonomy should be replaced by the principle of respect for individual autonomy. as expressed by Childress (1990). This principle re-quires the care givers to respect the clients in-~ividual decisions.
The elements of informed consent are threshold elements competence to understand and decide, voluntariness in deciding: information elements disclosure of material information. recommendation of a plan. understanding of disclosure and recommendation and consent elements decision in favor of a plan, authorization of the chosen plan. In cases of living donors, the elements of competence and voluntariness are more important than the others. So only an adult can give a recipient his own body part. but it should be forbidden to harvest from minors or protected adults (i.e. developmentall:i~ disabled person). However. when organs are removed from a cadaver donor, we ought to respect the donors decision. So we ought to try to seek donor cards or any documents expressing the don~~r~s opinion about organ transplant.
All health care givers ought to disclose donor informa~~ion about organ transplantation clearly enough for the donor to understand it and to be able to weigh the halms and benefits. ~~´e are going to propose the subjective standard as the ethical standard of disclosure. This standard will asswe ghat patients have enough information to be able to decide autonomously from their own position. Care givers have to consider the method of disclosure because donors can be influenced by it positively or negatively.
Establishment of the Hospital Committee is re-commended, because medical professionals will have a chance t,o discuss the procedure of decision and the validity of harvesting a organ from a person.
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